MINUTES OF THE NORTH ROSSLYN CIVIC ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING September 15, 2011
The meeting was called to order by President Jennifer Zeien at 7:40 PM. Board members in attendance were Jennifer Zeien, Mark Antell, Paul Derby, Mort Friedman and Landis Jones. Board member Anne Spiesman arrived shortly after the meeting began. Terrence Brown, President of the Rosslyn Mews Condominium Association (RMCA), attended the discussion of Key Boulevard Apartments redevelopment as a guest.
The Board briefly reviewed the 4.1 submission for the proposed redevelopment of the Key Boulevard Apartments (KBA) site, provided to the Board by Mr. Brown, who had received them from AHC, Inc.. The NRCA was not on the initial distribution of the 4.1 plan from HCA, and subsequently requested a copy, which had not been received by the time of the meeting.
The Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC) for the KBA redevelopment was scheduled to meet on Sept. 26; Peter Shulz is the County staff person on the review. The NRCA first learned of the SPRC meeting several days earlier. Notwithstanding the short notice, several members planned to attend the SPRC meeting, recognizing its importance. AHC had recently asked for a meeting with the NRCA in advance of the SPRC, but, because of the short notice, such a meeting could not be scheduled for either of the dates AHC suggested. The failure of AHC to allow sufficient time for the NRCA to arrange a meeting with them prior to the SPRC was taken as evidence of their lack of sincerity in engaging the community. The RMCA Board will meet on September 19 or 20. The Board of the Atrium Homeowners Association, which is represented on the SPRC, has not yet taken a position on the project. Mr. Brown was invited to represent the NRCA on the SPRC. Mr. Brown will find someone from the Mews to share the job with, or do it himself, with a co-Chair from the NRCA as back-up. Mr. Derby suggested that Rosslyn Mews join the NRCA so that Mr. Nierenberg’s replacement could represent the Mews and the NRCA. Mr. Antell noted that, even though the AHC-proposed housing is intended for families, AHC has not provided adequate play space in the redevelopment plan.
Anne Spiesman announced her intention to resign from the Board. She will continue to work for the community by negotiating local subwatershed remediation at or near the Colony House Furniture site as a community benefit to accompany BF Saul’s GLUP change request, which must be approved before they can proceed with their proposed development of the site. It was noted that the site is outside the purview of the NRCA, but we can support Ms. Spiesman’s efforts with a letter to County staff. Ms. Spiesman will arrange a presentation on local storm water run-off for the October General meeting.
The minutes of the previous Board of Directors meeting were approved unanimously.
Paul Derby reviewed the financial status of the Association; the Profit & Loss statement through September 2011 and the September Balance Sheet are posted on the NRCA site. The number of members in the NRCA is slowly declining. Mr. Derby suggested using social media to recruit new members. Mort Friedman suggested that members be recruited in context of specific issues facing the community.
Landis Jones and Jennifer Zeien have been following the proposed Rosslyn Gateway project. Mr. Jones will continue to monitor it. Ms. Zeien briefed the Board on the Rosslyn Sector Plan Update. The areas to be examined in the update and the process for obtaining community input are still under discussion and must be approved by the County Board before the update can commence. As projected, the update is to be performed over a very tight time period of about 18 months. Jennifer Zeien has met with County staff to provide input from the NRCA regarding the scope and process of the update.
Monday Properties filed a minor site plan amendment for 1812 North Moore Street. One aspect of the proposed site plan amendment is the elimination of a condition to provide 24-hour through-block access between Ft. Myer Drive and N. Moore Street. This condition is viewed by the community as a substantial public benefit of the development. The filed request is to be heard by the County on September 17. It was suggested that the NRCA should engage the Arlington Pedestrian Action Committee and the disabled community with respect to this request; no one was identified to take on this role.
